SPECIAL MAIL STOPS FOR PATENT MAIL
Effective May 1, 2003, the United States Patent and Trademark Office
has a new address for some mail. See Correspondence with the United States
Patent and Trademark Office, 68 Fed. Reg. 14332 (March 25, 2003). The mail
stop should generally appear as the first line in the address, but the term
"Mail Stop" may be abbreviated "MS". Special mail stop designations
should be used to allow forwarding of particular types of mail to the
appropriate area as quickly as possible. Such mail may be forwarded to
the appropriate area without being opened. Only the specified type of
document should be placed in an envelope addressed to one of these
special mail stops. If any documents other than the specified type
identified for each special mail stop are addressed to that mail stop,
they will be significantly delayed in reaching the appropriate area for
which they are intended. If no mail stop is included on the list below,
then no mail stop is required for the correspondence (e.g., there is no
mail stop for amendments with fees).
Requests for a corrected filing receipt should be faxed to
(703) 746-9195. Some correspondence may only be submitted via the Office's
electronic filing system (EFS). Instructions on how to file and what can be
filed via EFS are posted on the Office's Internet Web site
http://www.uspto.gov under the Electronic Business Center section.
Please address mail to be delivered by the United States Postal
Service (USPS) as follows:
Mail Stop ____
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Please address mail to be delivered by other delivery services (Federal
Express (Fed Ex), UPS, DHL, Laser, Action, Purolator, etc.) as follows:
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
2011 South Clark Place
Customer Window, Mail Stop ___
Crystal Plaza Two, Lobby, Room 1B03
Arlington, Virginia 22202
Mail Stop Designations Explanation
Mail Stop 12 Contributions to the Examiner Education Program.
Mail Stop 313(c) Petitions under 37 CFR 1.313(c) to withdraw
a patent application from issue after
payment of the issue fee and any papers
associated with the petition, including
papers necessary for a continuing
application or a request for continued examination
(RCE).
Mail Stop AF Amendments and other responses after final
rejection, other than an appeal brief.
Mail Stop Appeal For appeal briefs under 37 CFR 1.192 or reply
Brief-Patents briefs under 37 CFR 1.193(a).
Mail Stop For fee and petitions under 37 CFR 1.182 to obtain
Application date received and/or application number for patent
Number applications prior to the Office's standard
notification (return post card. or the official
"Filing Receipt", "Notice to File Missing Parts",
or "Notice of Incomplete Application").
Mail Stop Public comments regarding patent related
Comments-Patents regulations and procedures.
Mail Stop Conversion Requests under 37 CFR 1.53(c)(2) to convert a
nonprovisional application to a provisional
application and requests under 37 CFR 1.53(c)(3)
to convert a provisional application to a
nonprovisional application.
Mail Stop CPA Requests for Continued Prosecution Applications
under 37 CFR 1.53(d) for design patent
applications. Note that CPAs cannot be filed in
utility or plant applications.
Mail Stop DD Disclosure Documents or materials related to the
Disclosure Document Program. (A disclosure
document is NOT an information disclosure
statement.) Instead of filing a disclosure
document, inventors are encouraged to file a
provisional patent application.
Mail Stop Design The filing of all design patent applications that
do not request expedited examination under 37 CFR
1.55.
Mail Stop EBC Mail for the Electronic Business Center including:
Certificate Action Forms, Request for Customer
Numbers, and Requests for Customer Number Data
Change (USPTO Forms PTO-2042, PTO/SB/124A and
125A, respectively) and Customer Number Upload
Spreadsheets and Cover Letters.
Mail Stop Expedited Only to be used for the initial filing of design
Design applications accompanied by a request for
expedited examination under 37 CFR 1.155.
(Design applicants seeking expedited examination
may alternatively file a design application and
corresponding request under 37 CFR 1.155 by
hand-delivering the application papers and request
directly to the Design Group Director's office.)
Mail Stop ILS Correspondence relating to international patent
classification, exchanges and standards.
Mail Stop Issue Fee All communications following the receipt of a
PTOL-85, "Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due", and
prior to the issuance of a patent should be
addressed to Mail Stop Issue Fee, unless advised to
the contrary. Issue fee payments can also be faxed
to (703)746-4000. Assignments are the exception.
Assignments (with cover sheets) should be faxed to
(703)306-5995 or submitted in a separate envelope
and be sent to Mail Stop Assignment Recordation
Services, Director - U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office as shown below.
Mail Stop Missing Reply to the Notice to File Missing Parts of
Parts Application and associated papers and fees.
Note that such correspondence may also be faxed to:
703-746-4060.
Mail Stop MPEP Submissions concerning the Manual of Patent
Examining Procedure.
Mail Stop Non-Fee Non-fee amendments to patent applications. (Use
Amendment Mail Stop AF for replies after final rejection.)
No mail stop is required for amendments with fees.
Mail Stop Patent New patent applications and associated papers and
Application fees.
Mail Stop Patent Ext. Applications for patent term extension and any
communications relating thereto.
Mail Stop Petition Petitions to be decided by the Office of Petitions
including petitions to revive and petitions to
accept late payment of isse fees or maintenance
fees.
Mail Stop PGPUB Correspondence regarding publication of patent
applications not otherwise provided, including
requests for early publication made after filing,
rescission of non-publication request, corrected
patent application publication, refund of
publication fee.
Mail Stop PGPUB-ABD Petitions under 37 CFR 1.138 to expressly abandon
an application to avoid publication of the
application.
Mail Stop PGPUB Drawings to be included in a patent application
Drawings publication (replacement drawings for drawings
included with a patent application on filing).
Mail Stop PCT Mail related to applications filed under the Patent
Cooperation Treaty.
Mail Stop Provisional The filing of all provisional patent applications
Patent Application and any communications relating thereto.
Mail Stop RCE Requests for continued examination under 37 CFR
1.114.
Mail Stop Correspondence pertaining to the reconstruction of
Reconstruction lost patent files.
Mail Stop Ex Parte Requests for Reexamination for original request
Reexam papers only.
Mail Stop Inter Requests for Inter Partes Reexamination for
Partes Reexam original request papers and for all subsequent
correspondence other than correspondence to the
Office of the Solicitor (see 37 CFR 1.1(a)(3) and
1.302(c)).
Mail Stop Reissue All new and continuing reissue application filings.
Mail Stop Sequence Submission of diskette for applications with
sequence listings.
ADDRESS FOR TRADEMARK MAIL
The box designations previously listed in Trademark Manual of Examining
Procedure, Section 305.01 are no longer in use. See Change of Address for
Mailing Trademark Correspondence, which is posted on the USPTO Internet web
site at: http://www.uspto.gov/web/trademarks/tmmmailingaddressnotice.htm.
Please address mail to be delivered by the United States Postal Service
(USPS) as follows:
Commissioner for Trademarks
2900 Crystal Drive
Arlington, Virginia 22202-3514
SPECIAL MAIL STOPS APPLICABLE TO
BOTH PATENT AND TRADEMARK MAIL
The following special mail stop designations are applicable to
both patent and trademark related mail, and the recommendations for
"Special Mail Stops for Patent Mail" (above) should be followed for
the types of mail listed below.
Please address mail to be directed to a mail stop identified below to
be delivered by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as follows
(unless otherwise instructed):
Mail Stop___
Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Mail Stop Designations Explanation
Mail Stop 3 Mail for the Office of Personnel from NFC.
Mail Stop 6 Mail for the Office of Procurement.
Mail Stop 8 All papers for the Office of the Solicitor except
communications relating to pending litigation and
disciplinary proceedings; papers relating to
pending litigation in court cases shall be mailed
only to Office of the Solicitor, P.O. Box 15667,
Arlington, VA 22215 and papers related to pending
disciplinary proceedings before the Administrative
Law Judge or the Director shall be mailed only to
the Office of the Solicitor, P.O. Box 16116,
Arlington, VA 22215.
Mail Stop 11 Mail for the Electronic Ordering Service (EOS).
Mail Stop 13 Mail for the Employee and Labor Relations Division.
Mail Stop 16 Mail related to refund requests.
Mail Stop 17 Invoices directed to the Office of Finance.
Mail Stop 24 Mail for the Inventor's Assistance Program,
including complaints about Invention Promoters.
Mail Stop 171 Vacancy Announcement Applications.
Mail Stop All assignment documents, security interests, and
Assignment other documents to be recorded in the Assignment
Recordation records. Note that documents with cover sheets
Services faxed to (703)306-5995 are processed much more
quickly than those submitted by mail.
Mail Stop Mail for the Office of Congressional Relations.
Congressional
Relations
Mail Stop All requests for certified or uncertified copies
Document of patent or trademark documents.
Services
Mail Stop EEO Mail for the Office of Civil Rights.
Mail Stop Mail for the Office of Enforcement.
Enforcement
Mail Stop Communications relating to interferences and
Interference applications and patents involved in interference.
Mail Stop Mail for the Office of International Relations.
International
Relations
Mail Stop M Correspondence related to maintenance fees other
Correspondence than payments of maintenance fees in patents.
See below for the address for maintenance fee
payments.
Mail Stop OED Mail for the Office of Enrollment and Discipline.
Maintenance Fee Payments
Payments of maintenance fees in patents not submitted electronically
over the Internet at www.uspto.gov should be mailed to:
United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 371611
Pittsburgh, PA 15250-1611
Deposit Account Replenishments
To send payment to replenish deposit accounts, send the payments to:
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 70541
Chicago, IL 60673